Chapter Text
The ocean is a beautiful place. Wide expanses of clear blue all around you, colorful creatures in equally colorful reefs, and the graceful pull of the tides carrying you along when you let it, giving a weightless feeling of calm. Aki couldn’t deny that living in the sea had its perks. Ever since she was a little girl, she’d had a great love for exploring the world around her. Her father and mother, being the king and queen, allowed her some freedom to look around the area their kingdom was in, but it wasn’t until Aki was older that she got to search farther out. She’d gone every place she possibly could without going far enough that she couldn’t return home by the end of the day. Whenever visitors from other merkingdoms arrived, Aki would ask them all about how the world was in their part of the sea.
She couldn’t be content to just swim around in the same old waters forever. The world was a vast and beautiful place; there was so much to see. Those who didn’t know her well would say that wasn’t a problem; it was ok to explore the rest of the ocean since she could always tour the neighboring kingdom. Her parents were against the idea of letting their daughter travel too far from home though. They didn’t realize Aki’s desire wasn’t bound to the water anyway. There was much more to see above water too.
Aki was fascinated by the human world. Ever since she stumbled across an old shipwreck and found some human treasures, her curiosity had exploded. She began a collection, hidden in a small grotto she’d found. As she discovered more treasures, she gained a greater curiosity of them and humans. She just had to know what those things were and what humans used them for. She had always wondered a bit about life on land, but she had heeded her father’s orders to stay underwater. She had heard the terrible stories of humans since she was born, but after finding those items, after seeing all she could in the sea, how could she not go, just for a second?
Aki planned out her first excursion meticulously. She waited for a day where her mother and father were sure to be too busy to check on her and there were no specific duties she needed to do. She slipped out of the palace easily, without anyone knowing about her plan aside from her best friend, Carly. She wasn’t going with her to the surface, too scared to disobey the rules of the king, but when Aki had made it clear she couldn’t be stopped, Carly reluctantly swore secrecy and wished her luck.
It didn’t take Aki too long to find the nearest human town. She’d heard the occasional horror story about the place and had been warned many times to stay away from that area. From just under the surface of the water, she could make out the buildings in the distance. Heart pounding, she gathered her courage and poked her head out of the water. She was still far away from the shore, even the fishing boats didn’t come quite this far. Nevertheless, she could get a good look at the layout of the town.
There was an expansive beach and a few docks along it on either side, teeming with fishermen and people playing in the sand. Just behind them was the main area of the town, congested with different buildings and constant movement as humans went about their day. It seemed to be quite a lively place. Though Aki couldn’t hear any sound since she was too far away, she was sure the town was filled with strange noises and raised voices. The land sloped up into a small hill and at the very top sat a huge palace, mostly white with splatterings of blue. It held an air of elegance and importance, probably belonging to the leader of the humans. It didn’t feel too imposing though and worked well as the main focal point of the landscape.
The place had a charm to it; a gorgeous regalness but also a lazy peacefulness too. It drew Aki in more and she dove back underwater to swim closer. It was dangerous getting so near to humans. The possibility of being discovered was very high, but Aki couldn’t care less. How could she learn more about humans if she didn’t get close? Still, she was careful to keep under the docks, observing the nearest part of the beach. There was a small group of children playing in the shallows of the water, laughing and splashing around. They were so cute and innocent and Aki smiled as she watched them enjoying themselves.
The boys seemed to start a bit of a challenge, however, and they started trying to swim out farther. Apprehensive, Aki thought that surely they knew about the undertow or were strong enough swimmers to fight it, but her hopes were dashed when one of the smallest boys was swept by a wave, pulling him farther out into the ocean than he’d wanted. He cried for help, frantically waving his arms around, but the other children wouldn’t be able to reach him, not without getting themselves into danger too.
Heart pounding, Aki prepared to swim over to save him. She knew contact with humans was forbidden, but this was just a child! If she didn’t help, he could die! Just as she was about to go over, someone running down the beach got her attention. It was an older human, probably around her age with black hair and tanned skin. He flung off his jacket as he ran into the sea, fighting against the tides to get to the boy. He reached the child just as he was starting to sink under and, with an arm hooked under him and keeping his head above water, the man swam back to shore.
Aki clenched her hands together as she saw the two humans get back on land, the boy limp. That hadn’t been enough for him to drown, had it? She silently mouthed a prayer as the man started to… Well, she wasn’t sure what he was doing. Pressing the boy’s chest? It was hard to see with the other children crowded around them. Thankfully, the boy quickly spat out some water and sat up, looking shaken but alright.
After taking a moment to get his bearings, the child was back to normal and was excitedly talking to his savior. A few other people came down onto the beach too, just now noticing that something had happened. Everyone flocked around the man, seemingly giving him praise but it was obvious from his posture and expression that he was overwhelmed and bashful.
Aki wished she could hear what he was saying, though she could take a guess from his raised hands and shaking head that he was denying the recognition he was getting. Did he think saving the life of a child was nothing? No, Aki had a feeling that wasn’t it. It was more likely he was just being extremely modest. This man was the opposite of the impression her people had of humans. Their stories always painted them as savage killers, thieves, and destroyers, but Aki couldn’t see this man doing anything so wrong. But, she didn’t actually know him. Just because he saved the life of a human child didn’t mean he’d do the same for a merchild.
Just as Aki doubted the man’s character, he suddenly looked in her direction. His eyes briefly met hers before she ducked back under the water. Had he seen her? Did he know she was there the whole time? She swam away from the town quickly before she could process anything and didn’t stop until she reached home. She snuck back into her room, finally getting the chance to catch her breath.
Now that she had calmed down, she felt a little frustrated that she’d fled so fast. She’d barely gotten to see much of the town or observe the humans enough to really learn anything. Sighing, she leaned against the wall, trying to be positive. No experience was worth nothing, she must have learned something, even if it was small.
It seemed like it hadn’t taken long for that little boy to start drowning. Did all humans die in water so quickly? No, that man had been a competent swimmer when he’d saved the child. It must be a matter of skill. That wasn’t much new information on humans, but it was something. Still, Aki had a desire to go back. There was so much more to learn, though now she also had an interest in that man she’d seen. Who exactly was he? She wanted to know.
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It became Aki’s regular pastime to make the trip to the human town, which she had learned was called Domino. She’d discovered quite a bit of things from overhearing conversations of people on the beach and pier. Domino was a fishing town; their catch brought in not only food for themselves but selling it also brought in currency from neighboring human settlements. There was a royal family who lived in the palace: three brothers. The eldest had taken the throne since the king and queen had died, but the two younger princes still stayed and helped in ruling. The eldest was named Jack, the middle child was Yusei, and the youngest was Crow and all three were quite beloved by their people. The princes apparently visited the town regularly; Aki wondered if she’d ever seen them.
The person she did see often, however, was the dark-haired man who she’d witnessed saving a child on her first trip to the town. She didn’t see him every time she came by, but more often than not she did. Once, she found a human dumping things into the ocean. It seemed to be garbage and Aki was outraged. This coincided more with the stories she’d heard from her father; humans would pollute and destroy the ocean, contaminating the water for the fish and merpeople. However, the dark-haired man discovered the villain and reprimanded him for the atrocious act, accompanied by soldiers who took the evil human into custody.
That was the second time she’d witnessed that man doing something so righteous and she developed a new fascination. Aki wanted to know more about humans, but especially that human. Usually he could be seen within the town, talking with people, helping fix things, or entertaining some children, but he was always too far away to be heard or seen well. When she visited the town and didn’t find him at all, she felt a great disappointment. He was the most interesting person she knew, in both the land and the sea. She wondered, if she got the chance, should she talk to him? It would be revealing herself; he’d see what she was, but she wasn’t sure how he’d react. He always seemed to be kind and patient with his fellow humans, but it was still uncertain how he’d treat a merperson. He could turn on her as soon as he saw her tail and the thought of him being repulsed, chasing her away, or trying to harm her, weighed on Aki’s heart. No, she couldn’t risk it.
However, the awful funk that left her in made her not want to visit the town again, at least, not during the day where she could see that mysterious man. Aki waited until night to go back, taking up her usual place under one of the docks and finding some solace in the scenery. The lights from the buildings reflected in the ocean water, leaving a lovely shimmer. There wasn’t any noise as all the humans had gone inside so all that could be heard was the sound of the waves. It was serene and dreamy.
The idea popped into Aki’s head that it might be nice to lie on the shore to take in the sights, but it would leave her vulnerable. Still, if no one was around, it might be fine as long as she stayed close to the water. She swam around the wooden supports to check on the beach, but found that it wasn’t completely empty. The man she’d been trying to avoid was there, sitting on the sand. She ducked back behind the wood, peeking around it to watch. He hadn’t noticed her; he was staring out at the horizon with a contemplative expression.
This was the scenario she thought of, where he was completely alone, but Aki had already decided she wouldn’t try to talk to him. She was about to dip back underwater, but the man turning his attention to a spot in the sand made her stay. There was a crab trying to scuttle around, but it had a piece of human trash stuck to it, making it hard to move. The man carefully picked the creature up, meticulously working at the poor thing’s entanglement. It wasn’t easy to remove. The crab had really wedged itself into whatever that garbage was, but the man kept messing with it, eyes fixed determinedly on his task. After a few minutes, he finally freed the crab, setting it down gently and watching it scamper into the sea.
Aki felt her heart beating faster. The man had shown compassion to a sea creature; she even watched him put the trash in his pocket to prevent any others from getting caught in it. He truly was a good person, the type of person her father had sworn no human could ever be. She could trust him; she knew it with certainty now.
He must have sensed her watching him because he turned to look her way, their eyes locking again. This time she was close enough to tell that his eyes were blue, a darker shade like in the deeper parts of the ocean. How oddly fitting. He squinted, unable to see her too well since she was still under the dock. Slowly, she started to come out into the moonlight, but she froze as she saw someone coming down from the town, approaching the man. They called out something and the man turned to them briefly before focusing back on her, reaching out as if he was telling her to stay.
Except Aki was a little startled now. The man on the beach, she trusted. The person coming up to him, she did not. With a frown of regret, she slipped underwater and swam back home. She had been so close to speaking with an actual human. She could have learned so much more about their culture. She could have learned so much more about the man himself.
Frustrated, Aki came to a screeching halt, turning to face the way she’d come. She could go back. Maybe he would still be there. Perhaps, he was even searching the docks for her, sad to see she was gone. But there was also a chance he’d gone home or that the person who’d come to see him was still there. Unfortunately, tonight's opportunity was over, but there would be another and Aki would take full advantage of it when it came.